Coast Guard opens waterway after collision in the Intracoastal Waterway off Texas

The Coast Guard Captain of the Port for the Houston/Galveston area has reopened a two-mile stretch of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Sunday, after a collision between Bolivar Peninsula and Goat Island caused one of the ships to sink.

According to a release from the coast guard, at roughly 1 p.m., the captain of the Dixie Courage, a towing vessel, contacted the Coast Guard to report that he collided with a disabled 15-foot craft.

Four people jumped overboard and swam to shore before the collision.

"Only one of the four people had a life jacket on," Lt. j.g. Melissa McCafferty, a command duty officer for Coast Guard Sector Houston/Galveston, said in the release. "It could have been way worse. Luckily, all of them could swim, but if that hadn't been the case it could have become a deadly situation."

There were no reports of injuries.

The captain of the Dixie Courage reported no damage to the tow boat, but the pleasure craft sank from the damage it sustained.

The Captain of the Port issued a closure of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from mile marker 338 to mile marker 340 to prevent further incidents. This closure was lifted at 7:25 p.m.

A good Samaritan towed the boat to a nearby dock.

The Dixie Courage is owned by Kirby Inland Marine.

The Coast Guard is conducting an investigation into the cause of the collision.